PS4 and Xbox One: It won’t be long before graphics actually look next-gen

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The PS4 and Xbox One have some sharp-looking games, but those launch titles aren’t setting the world on fire. Sure, the new Killzone and Dead Rising look better than previous entries, but not enough to justify the price of a new console for many gamers. Thankfully, better-looking games are just over the horizon.

One of the benefits of having a relatively static platform is that software developers can get to know the intricacies of the hardware and eventually squeeze out some amazing results. The Xbox One has some quirky ESRAM in the mix, and the PS4 has the benefit of unified GDDR5 memory. While both machines use relatively standard parts, the different paths Sony and Microsoft have each taken with their respective consoles means that software optimization is going to play a big part in pushing the medium forward. Developers are still getting their feet wet with the new platforms, so it’ll take a few waves of mediocre-looking games before we see someone completely knock it out of the park.

When you look back at previous generations, it’s easy to see the stark contrast between early releases and late releases. Often, games released early in the generation look relatively stripped down and minimalistic. As time goes on, games become more graphically elaborate, and the amount of polish skyrockets. Even better, new features and techniques proliferate over the lifespan of a generation, and lead to better games on the whole. If you’re skeptical about the future of console games, just take a look at the brief history of platform evolution. When you do a head-to-head comparison, it’s quite clear that console releases get drastically better over time.

Over the lifetime of the PlayStation, the Ridge Racer series saw substantial visual upgrades. As you can see in the top screenshot, the first Ridge Racer title features sparse lighting effects, and very blocky textures. Six years later, the release of R4 was an outstanding example of what time and familiarity can provide to game developers. The cars and environments are far from perfect, but the devs made huge strides towards photorealism in a relatively short period of time.

Super Mario 64 launched alongside the Nintendo 64 in 1996, and helped define what a 3D platformer should be. The outstanding art design went a long way to make Super Mario 64 stand out, but later N64 games ended up looking noticeably better. Three years later, Donkey Kong 64 took advantage of the extra 4MB of RAM in the N64’s Expansion Pak accessory to display textures at a higher resolution.

Similarly, the jump from Ocarina of Time to Majora’s Mask was just as impressive. Despite using many of the same assets, Majora’s Mask’s increased draw distance and high-res textures gives it a much sharper look than its more notable predecessor. Again, the N64’s Expansion Pak is partially to thank for the visual improvements.

In 2001, Grand Theft Auto III was an astounding step forward for the series. It dropped the top-down perspective of earlier titles, and brought Liberty City to life. Even so, GTA III looks primitive compared to San Andreas. In a short three-year time frame, the developers were able to give the character models, the environment, and the whole games engine some much needed refinements.

Not every improvement comes strictly down to visuals, though. Halo 2 introduced the multiplayer and matchmaking services of Xbox Live that are now expected features of modern consoles. While the first Halo game only features local multiplayer, the sequel helped usher in an era of connected gaming.

While the original God of War on the PS2 was a beautiful game in 2005, its sequel really pushed the hardware to its limits. With incredible use of lighting effects, God of War II was a masterpiece of its time. Considering that the PS3 had launched months before the release of GoW II, this title proved to be a amazing swan song for the PS2.

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10 Stars for mentioning the only two games I currently own for my XB1 and PS4!!!!
(Dead Rising 3 and Killzone Shadowfall)
Woohoo!

Joe

Some of the before and after photos don’t show that much improvement. In fact, some look more or less the same (GTA IV vs V, GoW vs GoW 2)

Just Me

Sorry, but GTA V looks infinitely better than GTA IV. No contest.

britches

Also, not sure if you’re referring to Gears of War or God of War, but Gears 2 looked WAY better than Gears 1 IMO.

God of War 2 was pretty much the same as the first, so I’lll give you that.

Jason

Lots of these screenshots don’t do justice. Having played a good majority of these games in person, I can definitely say that the graphics have improved, from anti-aliasing solutions, lighting models/effects, resolution, texture details, bloom, etc. Lots of these things were added as the generation grew mature.

GTA IV to V was a massive leap. Just play the game. The technical improvements are impossible to miss. Same with GoW to GoW2.

chris9465

what i liked with DR3 is the size of the map and best of all the size of the zombie hordes

deSSy2724

GTA IV vs V?

Cmon thats not true….

superlee

I’m sorry but you’re blind if you can’t see the difference.

Jason

There certainly are more improvements to be made, but we’re reaching a point where graphics improvements will become less noticeable. Soon when you compare two games, you’ll have to stop and think for a moment whether one has better graphics, worse graphics, or if the difference is just artistic style. And you would need an expert in graphics rendering to explain which one is better and why.

IKROWNI

On consoles you mean. The same can’t be said for of where everyday new stuff comes up.

Guest

Are you VenkmanPHD on Gamespot?

Jason

No. If you’re talking about my avatar, it was one of the avatar choices that GameSpot listed on their site years ago. That would explain why some other people there may have it. I haven’t been active at GameSpot since many of old staff left to form GiantBomb.

chris9465

thats the utopia of gaming

eonvee375

“won’t be long”?

EVERY TITLE IS 3 to 6 YEARS APART… so technically you need to wait the next gen
(as you said in God of war 2… PS3 was already out several for month)

justerthought

lol don’t be silly. Most titles are 3 year projects unless it is a vast open world epic like GTV or Skyrim. Most of the work is in the initial game engine. After that, the games can be turned out quite rapidly with upgrades to the game engine. The second wave of games due after the launch titles, and their next gen game engines, were started years ago so they will be here within a year.

Just Cause 3 has been in development for about 6 years. You’re assuming work only starts when the console is released. Many games are started before the console is even designed, because they are built to a target spec that is higher than expected, then they tightly focus it down as the final spec is revealed. Games are made on high end PC’s and Silicon Graphics workstations, not the target console. The dev machines are just used to test compatibility and optimise the port code for the final domestic console.

Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed will be releasing a brand new massive open world game every year from now on. There use to be a 4 year gap with Far Cry. The success of FC3 has given them the funds to make a next gen game engine that allows a quick turn around and the money to expand the staff to quickly create all the assets.

Look at what happened this gen on PS3. Within year of launch we had Uncharted 1. Two years later we had Uncharted 2. Two years later we had Uncharted 3. A year later we got The Last Of Us. All great games getting better and better. They did not all arrive together at the end of the consoles life as you seem to suggest.

You need to be a little bit more optimistic and less negative. It is a great time to be a gamer right now and the future looks very bright if you’re on PS4. It’s a beast.

eonvee375

sorry you most of taken me for those “always angry” people ^^

i love video games and new graphics and never went for the BF vs CoD BS ^^
so every new game is always a new improvement for me
(flatOut 3 is an exception though)

my point was that the title is misleading (not that i hate waiting.
because frankly i dont even mind as im a PC gamer) ^^

Sam Cerulean

The consoles are stupid, they’re under powered and Irrelevant, words that console owners don’t want to hear but it’s undeniable. They’re a pile of shit an I won’t be getting one, PC Gaming all the way.

Guest

I downvoted you, but not because of your opinion because I generally prefer PC myself too, but because you’re disrespectful. It’s also undeniable that this gen has seen some incredible exclusives of which the PC will never see.

Don

Like what?

Groper

Because you are fucking retarded? Ied rather some one be rude that as stupid as you. There is not one single console exclusive that matters and most of them eventually come to the PC anyway and many of those are better when they do.

Ace Korneya

console are not irrelevant…. i love playing games on PC they look better then consoles and you could do a lot more then just play games on a PC. But how can you say that consoles where irrelevant. when the Atari, NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, and the Nintendo 64 where so important to the gaming industry.. they basically transformed they way we play games now and back then. Without the Atari console we probably wouldn’t have virtual video games on the PC or anywhere. i can tell you that i started to play video games on a console, and i bet many people who do play games started the same way. my first console was a Sega Genesis that my uncle gave me when i was 2-3 years old. then after that console, he gave me a Nintendo 64 which got me really hooked into video games. i never had a SNES but i had friends who did. i always wanted one but never got a the chance to own one sadly. but by you saying that you hate console, makes you look like an ignorant gamer.

dodoking

with $700 you could make an awesome PC able to run all games at full HD or even Ultra HD while having all the benefits of a PC

besides if a part breaks you can just swap it out or even upgrade so there really is no need for consoles

i know what your are saying. but i’m not saying that PC suck for gaming, all i’m saying is that consoles are not irrelevant. Also consoles are for people who don’t want to worry about a single thing. for example having parts fail on you, having to update your drivers constantly, or having to jump to different clients like Steam, Origin, or Uplay to be able to play games offline or online. console owners just want it to turn on, be able to go online talk to their friends and play their games.

Heath Parsons

You say “having parts fail on you”…you apparently have never heard of the red-ring-of-death or if you’re old, the playstation “sony” screen freeze, or if you’re really really old, the NES pixellations caused by bad pins. Consoles are really just locked down computers with proprietary software nowadays.

Ace Korneya

yeah but after the companies fixes those problems they work fine constantly, i never said that consoles are perfect in any way or that they never have bugs when they launch. i already know consoles have the same components that you find on a PC. By the way, I did own a first generation Xbox 360 pro system and it never red ring on me, my friends did, but mine was working fine then i upgraded to the arcade which had the new 45nm chips instead of the 90nm my 360 had. and i just swap the hard drive from my old 360 because i ended up breaking it by trying to mod it but hey we learn from our mistakes. anyways i still have my arcade version with the 20GB HDD

justerthought

The 360 RROD scandal was on a completely different scale to anything PS3 suffered. I’m still using the launch PS3 and it sits nicely alongside my PS4, working perfectly with no overheating. The PS4 runs so cool and silent. A design miracle. PC’s outputting the same graphics quality will have far more expensive components and loud fans to keep it all cool.

You need to open your eyes and stop being so smug like you know it all.

Steph

Xbox never broke down since year one of release, goes both ways

A Big Nerd That Eats Toblerone

I’ve had 2 Xbox 360s, the old 07 version with a 20 GB model, and a slim 2010 version, the first one worked until the disc drive failed on me, my fault as I knocked it over, the second one red ringed, because it got dusty and I couldn’t clean it like my PC. They both broke and they weren’t first run.

connor simpson

you clearly have never owned a proper gaming computer. They are pretty much silent, more powerful in every aspect and you can fix them yourself with ease. Goodluck opening up a PS4 and fixing it yourself without spending more than it would to fix a PC.

gameoholic007

Ditto, well said. It’s just amazing that a lot of pc only gamers out there still don’t get it, regardless how much we explain it. =)

Peter Plactere

nobody cares this is not about PC’s. its about ps4 and xbox one you idiot. nobody debates that PC games are better, most people dont like to game on a pc and some games are only on consoles

Giorgio

Peter I and everybody I know, plays on both PC and console, and I dont have problems neither with PC’s nor Consolles. Actually nobody I know have. I advice all the serious gamers to buy both systems. Cuz they are both amazing.

Peter Plactere

I play on PC too. Holy crap, my point was that this is not about. PC, the article is about ps4 and xbox one.

Giorgio

on this last point I agree with you. Its annoying having these battles between pc and consoles fanboys

Guest

Nobody cares what you say.

Peter Plactere

Why because I’m making sense? Is this article about PC?

I was there

How DARE you speak to your betters like that you Console peasant

This message brought to you by…

THE PC GAMING MASTER RACE

I’m just milking it now.

superlee

Exactly. The convenience of a console is what sells.

superlee

Funny I wrote this a year ago and now I’m a full fledged PC gamer.

A. J.

Can you buy a prebuilt gaming PC for that price? I don’t change my own oil, and I don’t expect a mechanic to build a PC.

Also, $500 for the X1 includes a very nice controller and Kinect. The PS4 includes a very nice controller in its $400 price tag as well. You have to take those into consideration as well. And no, keyboard and mouse is not a good replacement for a lot of people who prefer gaming with a controller.

Don’t get me wrong, I know that if you build it yourself, PC’s are cheaper. Especially when you consider the higher prices of games and the cost of XBL/PSN+. In fact, if gaming on Linux catches on, that will make home built PC’s about $100 less. Steam machines may change it, but right now prebuilt gaming PC’s are expensive.

dan_amd_is_my_bitch

I am a Master Mechanic and I do in fact build my own computers……..so……..HA!

A. J.

Nobody likes a know-it-all. :-D

Guest

And nobody likes stupid people( you know, people being completely stupid).

Peter Plactere

Do you mean completely stupid like when somebody jumps into a ps4 and xbox discussion just to try and rub in that PC is the best? That is what “completely stupid is” as well as flat out arrogant, People are not going to stop buying consoles and only game on a PC. Get over that. The majority do not like gaming on a PC. I myself have ps4, Xbox one, and a PC I built myself, i have a a degree in computer programming and a masters in game development so don’t try telling me I don’t know about PC.

Guest

If your one of the people who get mad at everything thrown at them, sorry. Not everyone is out to get you.

Peter Plactere

What are you even talking about? Do you not see the way you were talking to people

Guest

Talking to who? If you think it’s the same person who use the username “Guest” then you are sadly mistaken. Because thousands of people use it.

Peter Plactere

You don’t need to be a master mechanic to build a PC

Guest

Keyboard and Mouse is NOT a replacement to the controller, it is an alternative( even thought it came first) and any controller can be put in to any PC.

Commander Jim

Ahahahaha… Please, list and price the components of this $700 PC that can play games at Ultra HD. I doubt there’s even a GPU alone for that price that can play games in Ultra Hd.

Sammy

Not everybody knows or has the time to swap out pc parts, install drivers, and all that stuff. Some people actually prefer to use their time… you know…. to get laid.

Dozerman

Don’t say “to get laid” like that. It makes you sound like a virgin.

Sammy

Let me rephrase that: “have intercourse.” That doesn’t sound like I have never dipped the stick in eh? pffft.

Don

Good job, I don’t think I could’ve found any way to sound like more of a stupid ass tool. You not only look ignorant and lazy, but also come across as a fat loser now, fantastic.

Sammy

I think you have already found a way. Recite your comment out loud and there you have it. “fat loser.” This coming from a guy that probably has never stepped foot in a club or lounge, never lifted a dumbbell over 45 pounds, and has slept with a maximum of three women including the two that you had to barter with for services in exchange for money. Fantastic.

oneiopen

but can it play TLoU?

justerthought

You forgot to mention “for a year”. It will play all the latest games for a year, then you’ll have to put your IT geek hat on and spend money upgrading all over again. The console will still be playing the new games with no intervention from the player. That fact has great value and it’s one that the smug PC master race just cannot see. Some of us mature console players have been on both sides of the fence, but chose to go with console rather than continually ride the PC merrygoround. You’re probably too young to have been around long enough to see the pattern and fully add up the true cost over several years.

I prefer to use a Mac rather than a PC anyway for general computing. That would mean buying a PC just for games when the PS4 will be perfectly adequate. I can buy a lot of PS4 games for the price of a gaming PC. Every time the PC is upgraded, that’s one or two PS4 games up the spout.

Stacey Bright

Firstly its completely erroneous to claim that ones custom built computer plays games for only a year. All of the base computer components from a computer as old as 4 years ago can certainly allow for decent game-play of the latest cross-platform games. The only time where a complete rebuild is realistically ever needed is when the graphics expansion slot switch to an entirely new standard. Further more the reality of a PC for gaming is that you have a base computer for general tasks, the cost of gaming on it is realistically just the graphics card. A graphics priced in the console range today is going play those multi-platform titles with at least equal quality to the current console gen throughout the span of this gen. For most part it actually excel over the consoles capabilities.

Between MS improving the DX API to make better use of multi-core configurations, and this gen of console’s being multi-core 64-bit X86 hardware, current console game development will only improve the use of PC hardware. That will translate to reasonable performance on a something like a Core 2 quad from 2006. Its the PC exclusive titles that tend be more demanding, as on the whole they are just at a grander scale than anything a console has been capable of. They offer a broader range game-play elements and mechanics from not being limited to the controller.

Stacey Bright

Firstly its completely erroneous to claim that ones custom built computer plays games for only a year. All of the base computer components from a computer as old as 4 years ago can certainly allow for decent game-play of the latest cross-platform games. The only time where a complete rebuild is realistically ever needed is when the graphics expansion slot switch to an entirely new standard. Further more the reality of a PC for gaming is that you have a base computer for general tasks, the cost of gaming on it is realistically just the graphics card. A graphics priced in the console range today is going play those multi-platform titles with at least equal quality to the current console gen throughout the span of this gen. For most part it actually excel over the consoles capabilities.

Between MS improving the DX API to make better use of multi-core configurations, and this gen of console’s being multi-core 64-bit X86 hardware, current console game development will only improve the use of PC hardware. That will translate to reasonable performance on a something like a Core 2 quad from 2006. Its the PC exclusive titles that tend be more demanding, as on the whole they are just at a grander scale than anything a console has been capable of. They offer a broader range game-play elements and mechanics from not being limited to the controller.

Peter Plactere

I think it was an exaggeration when he said “a year”. But the rest of his points were all true. PC gaming is not appealing to most, and the majority of people would rather use a console.

Its not a debate that PC looks better than consoles but thats not important to most people. for someone who has a personally built PC (BEAST), a macbook pro retina, an xbox one, and a ps4, i do the most gaming my ps4. and second i use my mac retina with bootcamp (so basically a pc with retina display). my PC and xbox are used the least.

Giorgio

Juster, nope you are wrong, my custom computer is 3y old and I dont problem in playing the latest titles. Maybe u dislie PC for your own reasons and thats ok but lying is never a good thing.

Steph

Me of us like me, do not like PC gaming what so ever, seems like millions agree with me, it doesn’t matter if I could make a top notch PC for $200, I wouldn’t cuz I don’t enjoy gaming on the computer even with a controller.

Giorgio

Steph, the console is a computer.

Giorgio

Steph, the console is a computer….

Guest

A console is a watered down gaming computer with a controller( yes it is, don’t say it’s not)

Anukul

I’ll have playstationNOW troll , boogie this is the end of pumped up cases of honor (PCs) . sanctify a gamer

Sam Cerulean

The reason I say that so bluntly, however I will respect your post. Is because Consoles are basically PC’s but they’re just corporate owned experiences that actually pay developers to be exclusive to their machine an it’s RIDICULOUS and it is just hurting gamers in the long run, you might be one of those arrogant people reading this that assumes people should buy both consoles buy why should they have to?

I have a PC obviously an there’s plenty of games coming to Next Gen I won’t be able to play because I don’t own one an don’t see why I should, an vis versa where there’s some really amazing games coming to PC this year that will never reach consoles an people are missing out. Not only that but there’s a lot more downsides to releasing to consoles, you have to pay for their live services an developers are ripped of for publishing their games and patching them, they’re bribed into being exclusive and then you have the costs of distribution which you don’t have on PC. Sure I like the idea of having a Physical copy of my games but if your Order from places like Steam or Amazon then your removing that.

Not only that but you can play with a controller now days on PC on almost all the latest titles and you can even boot into steam and speed up the boot time dramatically with SSD’s and software that controls boot up software.

Monda

Why do you use ‘an’ instead of ‘and’? Is this the new hip way to say and now days?

mori bund

Why do you use ‘now days’ instead of ‘nowadays’? Is this the new hip way to say nowadays nowadays?
;-)

Steph

Zing! Haha

Dozerman

I can smell the burn from my house!

Monda

Obviously I was trying to talk as he does in his posts. Since apparently no one notices him use ” now days” also. Thanks though.

mori bund

Sorry, I just couldn’t resist as I saw “now days” in your comment. :-)

Groper

Because its late 2014 and not 1996 any more? IN the day of Quake and Mech Warrior even getting a game to work on PC was more trouble than even some techie people could handle. Now with steam it is esier on the PC than it is on consoles. We literally dont even need to install games any more or manually install patches when steam versions. And no, we dont need to stupid disk in the disk drive :)

Deadred

“Microsoft quite CLEARLY turning it’s back on every Gamer that plays on Windows”. What do you mean by this? In what way have MS turned their backs on gamers?

Angel Ham

Uh.. Microsoft likes it doggy style?

oneiopen

can your rig keep up just using 256mb of ram? ill wait…

Guest

can your console keep up without upgrading to a new console? Have fun!

justerthought

Consider yourself down voted.

The Last Of Us was one of the best games ever made on any platform. Ever. It was extremely innovative and you missed out due to your ignorant closed mind. Don’t put PS4 in the same trash can as XB1. MS have hijacked the xbox brand in order to release a Kinect controlled multimedia TV box on the masses that also plays games. In contrast, PS4 is an extremely powerful beast at playing games.

You make the same old mistake of smugly comparing like for like specs between a PC and console. The PC is extremely inefficient in it’s use of hardware so it has to crack a nut with a sledge hammer.

Don

I bought the Last of Us at full price, which I rarely do for any game, and was extremely disappointed. The game was not fun in any way, I don’t want to play an adventure game that uses ridiculously sluggish controls as a way to make fake tension and draw the length out.

justerthought

You’re missing the fun because you’re expecting a casual shooter. The game moves at the same speed as you in real life and has real life ammo amounts for such a world. You cannot spin around with super human speed like COD and shoot everything with unlimited ammo scattered all over the place.

I suggest you go back into it with a different outlook and learn to play it properly with real life limitations. If you succeed you will be greatly rewarded with a lot of fun. The gameplay is the best out there, but it’s not a casual shooter. It goes far deeper.

Anukul

just go and visit a game developer, ask him why he supports consoles

Dante2465

Yup late to the party as usual, Yea i own both ps3 and xbox 360 Bought both of them when they were at premium prices. Had money to blow, i also had a decent gaming pc. Learned my lesson, xbox is a rip off charging you 60 buck a year to play online. Yea the experience was better than ps3, but not buy much and certainly not worth the money they charge. The graphics really did not change that much over the life span of these councils, I do miss the online experiance and some of the games on the xbox exclusives tho. I have switched to pc gaming and not going to look back.
.

Ben Statham

”OOO look at me! I have a 1200 dollar PC! Aww all the best games are Multiplat! My graffixxxxes are wasted!” *sad face*

coolguyhero

come on,killzone is best looking game for new console imagine what will they achieve in coming year. similarly naughty dog.

Just Me

Wrong…Ryse is the best looking launch game to date.

Aaron Taggart

Ryse isn’t a game, its a movie that attempts to keep you awake using quicktime events.

SpideyBry

I’m sure it’s correct that sequels improved partly because of better optimizations but I think there is also another factor. Some of these probably had a smaller budget and fewer developers for the first title and then, due to their popularity and success, had more for the sequel.

Joakim

Even for PC-gamers the consoles (especially the next gen.) is a good thing since it forces the developers to optimize! If everyone had PC’s the developers wouldn’t need to optimize as much, they would just want you to upgrade your components instead…

Dozerman

Consoles kill optimization. Devs only have so many resources, and having to split between different arches causes fragmentation. Maybe this generation will be different with all parts being AMD and mantle allowing devs to target GCN in the same way that on PCs as Consoles, but the fragmentation still exists and will only get worse as new console variants come out.

oneiopen

Consoles kill optimization? Just stop. No pc can play ac4 with 256mb of ram. why? because its not optimized for it like, you know, consoles.

Dozerman

Assassins creed 3 is limited to 256 MB of RAM and the games suffer because of it. You keep neglecting to mention that this isn’t the same game that we’re talking about here on consoles as on PC. The game as a whole is much better on PC than on consoles. So much had to be stripped out to get it down to 256MB to the point that we aren’t even going apples to apples anymore.

seamus

Good or bad graphics; PC or console, how dare you say AC3 is good. Not what you said exactly I know, but even using a positive adjective for any part of that game besides the naval scenarios is just stupid.

Dozerman

Never said as much, good sir.

Aurel

One of the most stupid thing I heard.
Consoles have fixed hardware so it easy to optimize the game plus they are generally more profitable than selling the game on the PC.
PC has a huge variety of hardware, harder to optimize and the profit margin it’s lover then consoles. So developers do what they have to.

Dozerman

No. Optimization is a huge deal in the PC industry. Just look at cases like TWIMTBP and AMD Gaming Evolved. Aside from that, AMD and Nvidia go to extraordinary lengths to optimize their side of the gaming equation; sometimes bringing double the performance for the same architecture.

That being said, if PCs were the only platform out there, there would only be one software platform and API to target, DX and Windows. Any choice to use other platforms would be completely up to the dev, not forced by having to use a different system to target a different console.

‘m assuming all of those typos came from your rage you were taking out on your keyboard and you aren’t actually that stupid.

Dozerman

I’m grinning right now, by the way.

Aaron Taggart

“if PCs were the only platform out there, there would only be one software platform and API to target, DX and Windows.” There are several things wrong with this. First openGL, Linux, Mac?… Second, you are claiming that competition holds back progression and you couldn’t be more wrong. If there was only one platform through which all games were based on, there would be no reason to invest and make it better as there would be no gained market share in it.

Guest

Nintendo 64 has a RAM upgrade cartridge.

A. J.

I’d say PC’s kill optimization. The developer always has the excuse “well just get better hardware” on PC. In addition, while consoles are pretty big variations from PC’s, PC’s have dozens of CPU, GPU, and chipset variations on top of OS and other software changes. With the consoles, you have just one configuration for each to deal with.

There are perks to the controlled consistency of consoles, as there are to the freedom and openness of PC’s. I’m glad I have an X1 and a GTX 460 so that I have the option of playing how I want. (P.S. I know my GPU is old, but it gets me by just fine.)

Anukul

even now, consoles are the guardian of the gaming industry from economic point of view

Dozerman

What does that even have to do with what I said about optimization?

Also, in a year’s time, 80-190 dollar tablets will be able to blow the consoles out of the water.

Anukul

consoles will never be hardcore, no one will buy a $50 game on a tablet. would they?

Guest

Except the Nintendo64 with it’s 4MB RAM cartridge where the Jumper Pack goes that makes a good number of games look better( as in textures).

Dozerman

Been meaning to get one of those for my old N64…

gameoholic007

I’m really glade that I don’t come to this site for editors opinions.

Mark

Launch titles usually have to work on the previous console as well as the new one. While by the end they’re making it for only one generation of consoles.

With the limited time they have, they either have enough resources to optimize for both, or they simply limit themselves to last gen until there are enough current gen out.

GamingABC

A lot of PC only gamer putting down console gaming, but a PC don’t have the longevity as a console.
It is true a PC can be gotten with a more powerful hardware specs than the current new consoles for a bit more than the new console’s price, but as time progresses the quality (looks and possible feel) of the games have the opposite trend. As this article saying the games get better and better, but on a PC without any hardware upgrades, the games 5-6 years in the future would not have the same quality (looks and feel again) as the today’s latest games, if it can even be played on a 5-6 old hardware at all.
This is simply human nature of taking the easier way out from the PC game developers, as they don’t have to find creative ways to squeeze better performance out of existing hardwares but just specs a new CPU/GPU making what was the latest and greatest hardware platform “grow old”.

Dozerman

Know what’s funny? I ran BF3 on a four year old 7750, and iit still looked better than on the PS3. That bitch is still chuggin, too.

Guest

People still have Gaming PC’s from the 90’s.

toddraynerart

I love the “pc’s are better for gaming” well duh, of course they are. They can run better graphics and are more powerful. But you can’t build a better pc for $400 or even one for $500 with a motion camera like Kinects. @Ace Korneya just curious, about what did your rig cost? I guessing not $400, not $500. It’s a mute point, pc’s are faster and more powerful. Go back to your cave and stop crying. The point isn’t how pc’s are better, it’s how better “looking” games are coming within them next couple yrs without having to upgrade my current console with the next biggest and greatest pc part. Load up a 7 yr old pc, if it’ll even boot up and try to play BF4 or any triple AAA game. Good luck with that. Consoles are extremely important for many reasons as some folks have already listed here. I personally prefer playing a game on my couch with a controller looking at my tv, not with a keyboard, mouse and much smaller monitor. JS, but that’s my preference. PC’s elitists crack me up. Don’t hate the fact you have to drop a few $$$ down ever couple yrs because some AAA game is out and your current specs are now outdated, or the fact that your have to spend double what a console costs to future proof your rig of the next 5-7 yrs.

Phobos

It’s true, its all about the games and the fact that consoles have pretty good exclusive titles.

John

Also, a lot of people miss the fact that most PC players play on 20-27″ monitors. Im pretty sure a PS4 or Xbox One would look just as good as a PC on a smaller screen vice the 40″+ screens most gamers use for them. toddraynerart you made a perfect point. kudos

A. J.

That is a false statement. The video quality depends on the ratio of the screen size and the distance from the screen. From where we stand, the Sun looks to be about the same size as the moon. The distance from an object makes a huge difference.

toddraynerart

I wasn’t commenting on anything about ratio, I was just mentioning that I prefer sitting on my couch and using my tv to play games VS a chair and a monitor. Although monitors do look great, and that fact that Dell is releasing a 4k 28″ monitor for under $700 is pretty cool. But if I had a choice I go with a 4k 55″ for games VS a 4k 28″. Which unless you sit close you won’t notice a big difference. Normal viewing distance that is.

A. J.

My response was aimed at John’s. I personally prefer playing from my couch as well. Not that it means it, but I’d take a worse picture to play in comfort.

Billybob

If you prefer sitting on your couch and using your TV just PLUG your PC into it! In fact, modern day computers support multiple display outputs so you don’t even have to pick one over the other. Wow what a crazy concept.

John

False statement… no. The video quality does not only depend on the screen size and the distance from the screen. However, it does play a part, so you are not entirely wrong. The more pixels that are displayed on a screen the harder it is for the eye to distinguish individuals. i.e. Apple’s retina display. The pixel resolution on their products (the ones with retina display) is so high for the screen size that is impossible for the human eye to detect individual pixels. Therefore, a 1080p resolution on a 27″ is harder to detect pixels than say a 65″. Putting that into your context, up close and personal, lets say 6″ from the screen there will be a significant difference between the two displays. The 65″ having larger pixels because they are spread across a larger array of space. I am an imagery scientist by trade. I can talk about this all day :)

A. J.

I never said that the resolution didn’t matter. I said that distance does. Your comment compared a 27″ monitor to a 40″ TV, but it failed to mention the distance the user sits from it. If it is 1080p vs 1080p, then which ever screen is perceived to be bigger will look less sharp.

Guest

If the human eye was a TV, then it would put ALL the other TV’s to 100% shame!

Ace Korneya

I’ve invested well over 1,300 dollars on this rig. mainly because I’ve done many upgrades like from a H60 to my new thermaltake water cooler, from a gtx 560 to a gtx 770, the sound card alone was 180 plus tax (live in California) etc. yeah its a big investment. but i do want to say is that i love playing games on my rig but i don’t game on a small monitor i have my rig connected to my 40 inch LCD and i own a Onkyo TX-NR709 receiver, with Aperion Audio Home theater speakers, and a 15 inch sub woofer from HSU model VTF-15H 350w continues and 1300 watts Short term makes my room shake lol..

toddraynerart

That’s crazy, sound like it’s a rocking system. :)

Ace Korneya

if you love games and movies i would recommend to invest in a nice sound system truly make a different in the experience you get. i have a friend who has one Seaton Sound sub woofer which has two 15 inch subs with 2300 watts continuous that sub shakes the crap out of the house. there is time when his playing music at a really loud level it makes his roof titles shake you can just imagine inside you feel your hair shake, and you nose tingle depending on the frequencies.. that sub was 2,000 dollars alone mine was 900 but my room is a small bedroom he has a little bit larger room. the reason we got such big sub woofers was because we like to play thing at a really loud level where it shakes the room literally.

Billybob

You have no clue what you are talking about. Type “BF3 8800GT” into Youtube and see what a 7 year old CPU/GPU combo puts out. Hint: It’s a lot nicer then what a 360 or Ps3 can do.

toddraynerart

@disqus_bu5PviJqTp:disqus To the best of my knowledge, any of those systems ARE NOT STOCK SYSTEMS. Whereas a PS3 IS!!! Duh. Aside from hard drive, to the best of my knowledge the PS3 can’t be upgraded. Oh and BTW, I don’t want to burst your PC elitist trolling but BF3 on MY PS3 look as good if not better. Could just be the youtube feed, but I wasn’t impressed. I’m not bashing PC’s by any means, I’m just tired of PC gamers crawling out of the woodwork screaming “MY PC IS BETTER THAN YOUR CONSOLE”. We know that PC’s can be faster and better. Also, that’s what a handful of PC’s OUT OF MILLIONS of PC’s that some schmuck overclocked and custom built to run that. Please get real. What is with folks getting their panties in a bunch and assuming what one person knows or doesn’t know? Just to make themselves feel better? That their smarter or know more? How in the hell do you you think to know what I know? So working in the graphics and video field for over 7 yrs and working for one of if not the biggest computer company (Apple) means nothing, according to you it does. Facts are Facts! Yes PC’s are better for some things, but consoles wouldn’t be selling millions if they didn’t perform well. Are they better than PC’s NO, but they are great at what they do, and people don’t F’ing want to build their own PC rig to game on! When is the PC crowd gonna learn that. A handful of 7yr old custom PC’s is NOT a true representation of what a 7yr old STOCK PC can and most likely can’t do. Plain and simple.

Billybob

Be a little more butthurt. You clearly have never used an 8800GT at stock settings or you would know it beats the Ps3/360 rather easily. Crysis on the consoles looks worse then low settings for PC. An 8800GT would run it on high spec without a hitch. Feel free to compare the crappy looking Youtube videos, but if you truly had hands on experience we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. Keep in mind the 8800GT was only a $250 GPU, it’s not like we are even talking about crazy systems here.

Why are you talking about non-gaming PCs? Stop back pedaling on your arguments to fit your scenarios best. Who in their right mind would want to compare a non-gaming PC to a console? That’s an utter waste of time. Back in 2006/07 Microsoft and Sony were willing to lose several hundred dollars for each console sold to compete with high-end PC hardware. Now they are turning a profit with each console sold because they scaled back the hardware capabilities and competitiveness relative to the PC market. The new consoles are not very impressive at what they do. Go look at AMDs new A10 7850K, a $190 APU that’s pretty much identical to “next gen” console abilities. In another year they will leave consoles in the dust.

toddraynerart

Once again, you miss the point. I only compared a stock console to a STOCK PC. I’ve already stated you can build a PC better than a console. Folks that build a PC gaming rig have a hard time building one as cheap as consoles. Yes a PS3 was $600, and yes that can go along way to building a PC and yes it might be better. But who freaking cares. Different stokes for different folks. The point I keep making is that, compared to total number of people using a computer even to game, those that would build a PC is a very small percentage compared to those that would buy a console to do the same thing. A single graphics card IS better, stop comparing something that was an upgrade to a PC. The fair comparison is a stock “of the shelf” PC to a “of the shelf” console. Apples to Apples, That was and is my was my point. Yes a PC can win. You seem to miss that point as well. It’s when PC elitist compare a custom $1,000 or more gaming rig to a console, and say PC wins. Well duh, of course it will. No back tracking just pointing out how people only read or hear what they want and not the facts. So I guess your custom 7yr old PC beats a PS3. Good job you win the grand prize. A cave to crawl back in and enjoy gaming with all the other PC elitist that say my PC is better. Have fun.

Billybob

Why do you insist people have to build these themselves? There are a bunch of A10-6700 PCs on Bestbuy.com for 500 dollars. They will now be replaced by the A10 7850K which is near identical to “next gen” console performance. Your babel about “of the shelf” PC to “of the shelf” console is absurd. I’ll say it again for you. A Stock 8800GT (which came in pre-built computers and was not very expensive) hands-down demolishes the Ps3/360, no overclocks or “upgrades” required. You said 7 year old PC hardware, I gave you 7 year old PC hardware.

How many times are you going to tell me to crawl back into a cave? I called you out for being clueless, which is proving to be true. You can insult me all you want but I simply wanted to clarify the reality of the situation for you.

LazyIzy

Hey, just curious, how much did your PS3 cost during the first year…$700? That was the peak of its performance too, because after that (when it became cheaper) they had to start gimping on the graphical quality. If you build a PC on the high end (around $700), you won’t need to reduce the graphical quality for a few years. If you’re a person who really doesn’t care about graphics, then a $300-$500 PC should be able to run anything with lower quality.

Your current consoles were boasting 4k and most games are either 720p @ 60 or 1080p @ 30, Microsoft said the Xbox One would last 10 years, that’s funny. The systems were rushed, that’s all. I’ll be amazed if they can squeeze out any more performance as well as increase the graphics.

Actually i spent $500, not $700. Ps3’s were NEVER $700. So by your statement and logic, any launch game on PS3 was better The Last Of Us? Yea, Ok. Sure the hardware was not upgradeable but consoles force devs to optimize their games as time goes on, whereas when you develop for PC you don’t need to optimize. Opinions vary on this matter as if it’s necessary or not, but games always look better on consoles as time goes on, just as this article was pointing out. And don’t even say any game would look better on a PC. That’s not the point. I again go back to what I said, I know PC’s can be better than consoles, that was never my point. Apparently either PC gamers can’t read or just don’t want to read my point. Which was to take $600 and go buy a PC off the shelf of a Best Buy 7 yrs ago and 1. See if it even turns on and works (as good as a PS3) and 2. See if it’ll play any game that came out for the PS3 and look as good, (which it won’t). No customizing, no adding in special hardware, take $600 and go buy a PC off the shelve 7yrs ago like I could with a PS3 and tell me that a PS3 can’t hang with a PC. Not a pimped out custom gaming rig that costs 1,000 or more, I talking about a basic PC.

If you PC gamers can’t get that simple point, which you all don’t get it, buy that fact you keep telling me a 7yr old basic PC can run BF4 or any new game at 1080p/60fsp and out preform a PS3. Sorry NOT TRUE and I don’t buy it. Why? Because I’ve work on older PC’s and they are slow as hell and can barley run some of the most current software and basic games. So No, I’m not console fanboy, as I’ve owned many computers and consoles over the yrs. I prefer gaming from a console, not a monitor. It’s called personally preference, we all have them. So enough with the PC’s are gods gift to gaming and PC’s are better than consoles. For most things yes, they are but not for everything.

LazyIzy

I can’t find where I got the price data, but you paying $500 for your PS3 means you bought the 20GB. All the other versions cost $600 on launch.

It seems your opinion of what a “basic” PC is, is a bit off. A “basic” PC would not cost 600$, anything $500+ is usually considered a performance PC, and if you’re paying that much you’re probably getting the hardware @disqus_bu5PviJqTp:disqus mentioned in his comment. There’s no need for a “pimped out” $1,000 PC.

I did not say a 7 year old PC could run BF4 maxed at 1080p@60 (lol, that small resolution and frame rate), but the PS3 cannot EVEN run BF4 at 1280×720@60fps, it’s more like 1024×600@25fps MAYBE. An older PC, especially with $600+ hardware, would definitely be able to run a game at that resolution and with, just a bit, more FPS than that.

I never said anything like “PC’s are god’s gift to gaming”, but if you’d take care to realize, your console is a limited PC. Fortunately, personal preference is understandable, which is why I’m not ridiculing or laughing at you for using a console.

I was there

Allow me PC’S ARE GOD’S GIFT TO GAMING

This message brought to you by…
THE PC GAMING MASTER RACE.
lulz

Don

You tried to make a smart post, but failed when you said I need to upgrade my rig every 4-5 years for AAA games, you don’t know shit lol.

toddraynerart

Really, what a observation. So anybody that wants to play the newest AAA game at 4k doesn’t need to upgrade? Or someone who wants to play BF4 on max settings with a 4-5 yrs old PC doesn’t need to drop in something new? i.e. RAM or Graphics Card. hmmmm, I guess I don’t know shit. It’s ok, ignorance is bliss and I’m happy not knowing anything about PC’s. You make a general statement with nothing to back it up. Who failed? When I said double, I meant double. A somewhat future proof (maybe 3-5yrs) card is not cheap. Let alone any updated RAM for the next 3-5 yrs. Moving on. http://elitegamingcomputers.com/the-best-video-cards-for-gaming/

justin b

a natural outcome of a static hardware config as developers optimize all the API layers away with each year.
Successive iterations of a pc game franchise cannot do this as the API layers insulate the game from the complete zoo of different chipsets and hardware specifications.

PS3 last of us using 256mb or ram has 2012 pc gaming geometry and lighting. Optimization trumps on-paper horsepower.

oneiopen

This comment… I dont understand why most people dont get it, yea a pc can be much more powerful but optimization will always win out in the end. Fuck what anybody says uncharted 3 and TLoU on a 7yr machine with 256mb or ram looks beautiful. Try that on a 7yr old pc that never was upgraded.. good luck. I game on pc myself but be real you cant even run an OS with 256mb and ram and expect to game at that level.

Emmaragh

Last of Us runs in 720p, 25-30 fps, which is a rather… pitiful performance by the modern standards. And, well, while it IS visually beautiful, but it’s thanks to the work of artists and level designers, the graphics is not that great by itself. And yes, a 6,5 yr-old GPU like 8800 GTS is capable of delivering even better graphics (Witcher 2, e. g.?).
Point is, miracles don’t happen. Usage of low-level APIs allow to squeeze, like 15-25% extra perfomance compared to higher-level APIs like DirectX used in PCs, but that’s it. All the further “optimisation” is reduced resolution, framerates and overall graphics quality.

Billybob

It could easily have been done on a 7 year old machine that hasn’t been upgraded. You must not understand hardware very well. The Ps3 is roughly a 7800GT and in 2006 you could have gotten an 8800GTX which is more then twice the power. Using the argument of 256mb of ram is pretty silly considering PCs have to do a lot more then just play video games.

Assassin’s Creed 4 on PS4 looks totally next gen, which is amazing for a launch title. It’s doing stuff way beyond the current gen. 1080p running smooth as silk with zero shimmering distant details, volumetric smoke, water refraction, wind and wave physics, high res textures, high quality shadows and dense lush environments with plats that bend as you push through them.

PS4 games will just get better and better as time goes on. XB1 is going to struggle because its GPU is under powered and does not have access to fast GDDR5 RAM to rapidly stream huge amounts of data and game assets in real time to the GPU. The extremely fast ESRAM cache can only hold 32MB at any given time and cannot help fill the slow DDR3 RAM any faster than its physical limit.

Devs make 3rd party AAA games using a generic code scaleable game engine and then optimise each port with the relevant dev machine. They don’t have time to completely re-write the whole game code for just one platform in order to make full use of ESRAM and cloud processing, so XB1 will continue to suffer lame gimped ports compared to PS4. XB1 ESRAM and cloud processing will remain under used just like CELL on PS3. A complete role reversal.

Once Naughty Dog start coding with the heterogeneous memory architecture, the PS4 is going to escalate way beyond anything the XB1 can deliver, because data won’t need to be copied to another location every time a GPU or CPU process fetch’s it from RAM, like XB1 and PC does.

All the above is based on fact not fanboy chatter. Goggle it if in doubt.

Alan Rodmell

I always use the PS1 Ridge Racer and FF7 as comparisons when talking about how the games improve over a consoles lifespan. It is impressive to see side-by-side like this. Nice article

A Big Nerd That Eats Toblerone

Skyrim vs Oblivion graphics. That is what can happen on the same console and no mention.

James Tolson

games and gaming used to be good, from the 80’s, 90’s and even early to mid 2000’s but now games are not games they are just over the top eye candy cashing in microtransaction/micropayment dlc and drm infested mini games focused on terrible multiplayer and underwhelming graphics, and as graphic technology evolves it get even worse.. i would rather play a playstation 1 or 2 port of a game than say a ps4 one, really i would lol..

the thing is this, using say a ps2 as a probably the last example of a great gaming console, graphic engines where used that drove the hardware close to metal making games unique graphically for game like god of war 2 in this article, this was tru of all consoles prior too, developers coded close to metal making the gaming experience and graphics on that machine unique, this often meant gameplay took presidence and is why games where better years ago than they are now.. these days however the ps4 and xbone are mini itx pc’s running ontop of a locked down OS and on that are graphical API’s that the game engine talks to, with the game running in the game engine itself.. now as most game engine have evolved to a similar look and fidelity, to me all games look the same, all fps look like each other, all rpg’s look like each other.. the strive to make coding games easier and quicker has led to gaming mundaneness (if thats a word).. it is a shame but i don’t think the next gen consoles will ever be utilized to their full potential, hell the previous gen where not..

I’m sorry but you’re blind if you don’t think Killzone looks incredible. It’s the best looking game I’ve ever seen.

Not even Metro Last Light or Crysis 3 on my PC rig look better running at ultra on my 1440p monitor.

Guest

Crysis 3 needs more power from PS4 to run in Ultra settings at 1440p. ( GPU is going to bottleneck it, a lot). It’s GPU is about a HD 7850( NOT overclocked) in power.

Wraith7216

Thats part of the reason I’ll let a next gen console be out at least a year before picking one up. The bugs will be worked out, there’ll generally be a price drop and at least 3-4 “must play” games out for it. So far GTA V looks better than some of the stuff I’ve seen for PS4. This will change of course, in the meantime, I’m gonna enjoy some of the really great games on the PS3 end cycle…

(Me) B===>~ O: (Mav)

Watch this guy who is following me around on disqus threads after I trolled him on another site. He should be along shortly to tell you about “me” and my posting history ;-)

wormywyrm

Forza and Ryse look amazing. The amount of zombies on screen at a time in Dead Rising 3 is totally insane. All the 3rd party ports are not impressive of course, because they were built and optimized for previous generations. PS4 has less boxed exclusives at release but killzone looked pretty good. That other boxed PS4 game that got the bad reviews had pretty subpar graphics though.

Mirimon

no… forza is the best looking game xb1 has, and it stutters often..
Ryse? it’s 900p at ~20fps…
DR3?? haha, 720p @14-16 fps… I would be more impressed if the xbox one was actually next gen… that level of performance I expect from last gen.

Say what you want about the multiplats.. they look and feel better, averaging 8-32 fps higher on ps4 than xb1, and usually at a higher resolution as….

Plenty of good looking and playing games, actually playing in PC level performance vs. 1, maybe 2 games on a system that has yet to show any next gen graphical capability.

wormywyrm

Have you played DR3? The amount of zombies on screen at a time is epic. I have never played anything like it in my life. Graphics are more than resolution, polygon counts, or fps. Most things that affect the quality of graphics cannot be measured by a simple #, such as shaders and anti-aliasing. Those multiplatform games you are talking about were designed for older generation consoles and poorly optimized for the X1. Once PS4 gets a decent amount of exclusives then we will have a better idea of which console has more impressive graphics, but sadly PS4 is lacking in # and quality.

Mirimon

yeah, I’ve got my hands on DR3’s “epic” gameplay.. and no…. there’s not much point to having a large number of things happening, when them happening looks like crap… 720p, sub 30 fps crap…. might as well have them look like the crowd in the back ground of the original mortal combat….

your concept that things were poorly optimized for the x1 is just an excuse btw… that’s what they get for making almost everything EASY TO DEV FOR SINCE IT IS JUST LIKE CURRENT PC and then ruin it with the choke points of it’s architectural design and introducing silly things like laughable ESRAM being poorly integrated. Fact is.. DR3 would have looked fantastic on PS4, @1080p and 60 fps….

It’s clear which console really is next gen… but don’t take my word for it.. unless of course, you listen to one of the youtube shills MSFT illegally hired to secretly advertise for them…..

Millenia Blue

LOL! Just another BUTTHURT Sony fanboy!!

I was there

First guy to froth out FANBOY with multiple exclamation marks, is usually the fanboy.

Can we apply this this idea to the Wii U as well? Many people keep putting it down because they say its under powered on all that but its only been out for a year. Besides a couple early first party games and last gen ports the system hasn’t had something to truly demonstrate its full capabilities (Super Mario 3D world looks great though).
Gonna have to wait for “Project Cars.”

chris9465

i started with pitfall on the 2600 graphics have been pretty great and only getting better

Kyle

You know personally I can’t tell the difference between any of these two examples in each category of graphics. This article doesn’t prove its point at all. I just got a ps4 and I’m not impressed with what I’m seeing in assassins creed. I guess graphics aren’t everything but I was expecting real photo realism in games by now.

Zack Wooten

I’m sorry but Killzone Shadow Fall’s graphics are pretty pathetic. I couldn’t help noticing the other night when I was playing it the fire looks like original Playstation blocky fire. There’s a lot of other things too.. sure it’s 1080p, but I’d rather have 720 and improved graphics than pathetic graphics that are really clear.

Zack Wooten

And from the comparisons given, they really show that graphics don’t really improve that much over time within the same gen; just the artwork and little tricks the devs do change.

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